---
title: Panels
order: 1
---

Chisel's properties live in three panels: *Object Properties* (per-object SDF settings), the *Modifier* tab (the Chisel modifier list), and *Render Properties* (per-scene engine settings), plus a *Material Properties* section for per-object color and the node tree.

## Object Panel

![Object SDF settings](../assets/objectsettings-sdf.webp)

The **SDF** section of *Object Properties* houses everything specific to the active object.

### Primitive section

- **Enable / Disable Chisel**: toggle SDF mode on/off. Disabling falls back to the standard mesh. Enabling an object that carries Blender modifiers asks first, since those are removed.
- **Render**: controls whether this object is included in the ray-marched render. It's decoupled from viewport display: turn it off to drop the shape from the render while it still shows in the viewport (as a wire outline or bounding box if [Outline](../render-engine/display.md) is set).
- **Primitive Type**: change shape type after creation
- **Shape parameters**: depend on the primitive type (radius, depth, sides, cone cap, etc., see [Primitives](../primitives/index.md))
- **Rounding + Profile + Chamfer Smooth**: edge-fillet controls (most primitives; see [Rounding & Blending](../rounding-and-blending/index.md))
- **Bevel + Bevel Profile + Bevel Smooth**: vertical-edge fillet controls (Oblong, Prism, and Trapezoid; these three split the panel into a *Bevel* section and a *Cap Rounding* section)

Below the shape parameters sit the per-object actions: **Clean**, **Clean Mods**, **Rebuild Mesh**, and **To Mesh**. Detail is no longer set per object. The scene-wide [Subdivision Level](../render-engine/quality.md#brick-detail) replaces the old *Subdivision Bias*.

### Ngon points

An [Ngon primitive](../primitives/shapes/ngon.md) replaces the usual shape parameters with an editable point list: index, `X`, `Y`, corner rounding, corner smooth, and an icon-only corner-profile dropdown per row, plus `+` / `−` buttons to add and remove points. **Depth** below it sets the half-height of the extrusion. Clicking a row makes that vertex active, which is also what the viewport [Ngon gizmo](gizmos.md#ngon-gizmo) drives.

### Curve shapes

The three curve primitives show their curve settings and a **Convert** button for their type: *Convert to Ngon*, *Convert to Ngon + Revolve*, or *Convert to Sweep Chain*. See [Convert Legacy Curve](../operations/convert-legacy-curve.md).

### Mesh SDF

For a mesh object that is *not* yet a Chisel object, the panel offers **Convert Mesh to SDF** right under the Chisel toggle.

![the SDF panel of a plain mesh: Enable Chisel and Convert Mesh to SDF](../assets/objectsettings-enable-chisel.webp)

Once converted, a [Mesh primitive](../primitives/mesh.md) gains a block at the bottom of the panel:

- an **SDF is stale — mesh edited** banner when the source mesh changed after its bake
- a **Shown as placeholder** box, with the reason and a **Rebake to fit** button, when the grid cannot be shown, see [Mesh Primitive](../primitives/mesh.md#when-a-grid-does-not-fit)
- **Rebake SDF**, plus the **Bake Resolution** and **Field Margin** the re-bake uses. A resolution the GPU can no longer hold shows an *over budget* hint under the slider.

### Bake direction

For per-object bake setup (used when [baking maps](../render-engine/baking.md)):

- **Bake Direction**: Top / Bottom / Front / Back / Left / Right
- **Bake Flip**: invert horizontal axis of the bake
- **Bake Height Origin / Range**: height-map remap window

## Modifier list

The **Chisel Modifiers** panel in the *Modifier* tab shows every Chisel modifier on the active object. It replaces Blender's stock modifier panel for Chisel shapes only; plain meshes keep their normal Blender stack even with the Chisel engine active.

![Modifier list](../assets/modifiersettings-mods.webp)

The toolbar at the top of the modifier list adds, collapses and expands modifiers, and opens the options menu, without dropping into menus.

![Modifier toolbar / add menu](../assets/modifiersettings-menu.webp)

Each modifier row has:

- A header chevron to expand/collapse its options
- An operation icon and label (Difference / Union / Intersect / Mirror / Bisect / Carve / Sweep / etc.), naming the target where there is one, in red with *(no target)* when the target is gone
- **Move Up** / **Move Down**, a **pin** toggle, and **Remove**. Pinned modifiers stay at the bottom of the stack; newly added modifiers insert above them. See [Modifiers](../modifiers/index.md#pinned-modifiers)

Each expanded modifier shows its own settings block, see [Modifiers](../modifiers/index.md) for the per-modifier parameter list and screenshots of each settings block.

The options menu (the three-dot button) holds **Expand** (auto-expand new modifiers), **Apply All** (bake the chain into one shape, see [Apply Modifiers](../operations/apply-modifiers.md)), **Delete All**, and **Clean Mods** (drop every red *(no target)* row, see [Clean Mods](../operations/clean-mods.md)).

The list toolbar also carries a **budget readout** for the chain the active object belongs to: `Objects N/256`, turning red past about 80% of the cap, with a `Modifiers M/…` counter appearing once that cap is half used. A [Smooth](../modifiers/smooth.md) modifier does not count toward it.

## Material Properties

Per-object color and the Chisel node graph live in *Material Properties* (red sphere icon). The material belongs to the object itself, so it survives undo and proxy swaps. For the simple color workflow and the node editor, see [Materials](../materials/index.md).

## Render Properties

Set the engine to *Chisel* in `Render Properties` to enable. The full breakdown of render settings (quality, performance, matcap, display, gizmos, baking) lives in [Render Engine](../render-engine/index.md).

## See also

- [Pie Menu](pie-menu.md): keyboard-driven equivalents for most panel actions
- [Gizmos](gizmos.md): viewport gizmos for the same fillet controls